Congratulations to Derwin Mak and Eric Choi, the terrific editors of The Dragon and the Stars anthology! The Aurora Award is Canada's most notable science fiction award.
The Dragon and the Stars is published by Penguin's DAW Books and it was the fifth bestselling mass market paperback at Toronto's Bakka-Phoenix Books in 2010.
The Dragon and the Stars includes my short story, "Shadow City." If you live in Canada and enjoy the book, please consider voting through the Aruora Award site.
Here's an excerpt:
The mob of reaching hands and maddened voices made him want to shrink back and not leave the safety of the barge. But he held his posture, exaggerated it even – straightening his shoulders, puffing out his chest as he tied the barge to the dock. Just out of reach of the grasping arms, Zian dipped into his pouch, pulled out a handful of dust, and sprayed it above the crowd’s heads. The Shadowers – animal eyes and broken hair, skeletal faces and distended bellies – scrambled like rats to catch a grain of dust and place it on their tongues.
While the Shadowers were occupied, Zian quickly unlocked the gate, slipped out, and slammed it shut behind him. Unmolested, he walked past the city dwellers fighting over the grainy bits of precious drug. It wasn’t so long ago when he scrambled for dust along with the other tattered wretches, longing for the rush of pleasure as soon as the grains touched his tongue, craving the high that blighted the nightmare of Shadow City for what seemed like months.
~ From "Shadow City" by Susan Ee
